Poster

Papal Pronouncements, a Guide: 1740-1978
(Benedict XIV - John Paul I)

edited by Claudia Carlen, IHM

A need has long existed for a thorough,
discriminating guide to papal pronouncements --
a catalog of encyclicals, apostolic constitutions,
addresses, and other major papal documents
arranged in a convenient form so that the issues
addressed by the Catholic church, and the
corresponding primary documents,
can be identified, located, and studied.
This publication fulfills that need.

Coverage

Papal Pronouncements, a Guide: 1740-1978 covers
approximately 5,200 papal documents. They begin with Benedict XIV
and conclude with John Paul I who, in his 33 days in office (26
August to 28 September 1978), issued 30 significant documents.

Document Types Included

encyclical letters

encyclical epistles

apostolic constitutions

apostolic letters

bulls

motu proprios

personal speeches

radio and television addresses

exhortations

simple and autograph letters

and other documents

Contents

The following information is given for each
pronouncement:

date

original title (designated by the first few words of the
original document)

general subject, in English

information on the circumstance of writing and/or audience
addressed (e.g., delegates to the 3rd International Press Congress)

type of document (e.g., encyclical letter, radio address)

word count

concise summary of issues and subjects addressed

sources containing the full text of the pronouncement,
including primary sources of the original language and English
translations

Example from Section 14: Pius XII

14:513
1957 Feb 24

Le IXe Congres National(To the 9th National Congress of the Italian Society of
Anesthesiology: moral and religious problems with anesthetics)
address: 7,200w

Submits answers to questions proposed on anesthetics: 1) no
moral obligation to refuse anesthetic--a) combats forces that
produce evil effects or prevent greater good; b) physician's object
is to subdue pain; c) patient may legitimately avoid pain; 2) no
moral or spiritual liability in use of narcotics when objective is
not diminution of consciousness but preservation of psychic and
organic equilibrium; 3) use of narcotics with dying not illicit--a)
if patient is spiritually prepared, physical conditions justify it,
drug is properly administered, patient consents; b) if pain is
intolerable and shortening of life is unavoidable result of
subduing pain.

End of Example

Arrangement

The documents are arranged in their chronological order of
issuance. The chronological arrangement facilitates a study of the
issues that were addressed by the various popes, the methods chosen
to deliver and disseminate statements on those issues, and the
treatments of those issues over time.

Access

An exhaustive subject index indicates all concepts and issues
covered by the pronouncements, making it possible to identify what
individual popes have said, for example, on specific topics such as
the Assumption of Mary, education, or atomic research.

A title index provides access to specific documents for which
title information is known.

About the Editor

Sister Claudia Carlen is the preeminent authority on papal
documents. She edited The Papal Encyclicals, 1740-1981 and
has authored/edited numerous other works on papal pronouncements
including the Guide to the Documents of Pius XII. In recent
years, she has received four honorary doctorates that specifically
recognize her work in this area.

"The scholar, the student, the researcher, know the joy
at finding and using a reference work that fulfills its purpose and
meets their needs. That is the joy I have experienced in reading
the manuscript of Papal Pronouncements. But not joy alone,
amazement and admiration as well in the face of a virtuoso work of
a recognized expert."
-- Thomas C. O'Brien, Editor Documents on Liturgy